Another thread started me thinking again about how many things are so much better today than they were in the 1950s and ’60s when I was growing up as a kid. A few that come to mind in no particular importance:

Air conditioning in homes and cars. Then it was fans at best for most of us, and only adults had them in their bedrooms. Heating by coal fire was still far from uncommon.

Dental care, and medical care in general. I still remember early experiences at dentists’ offices and how they fueled my phobias for decades. I once heard two Army medics at a military hospital discussing how to decide when a hypodermic needle was too dull to be reused and should be discarded. The fact that ibuprofen and acetaminophen (Tylenol) are over the counter pain relievers is just one of countless examples that could be cited today.

Information availability. When friends and I were developing our own Minitanks war games rules and wanted to learn about various tanks’ capabilities, we were able to find one (count ’em—one) reference book with general information at the main large city library. There is literally no comparison between today’s Internet and anything that existed before, from the arcane to the most commonly useful.

Online merchandise ordering. Yes, at one time people could order guns from mail order companies, but they didn’t have countless other products to pick from, nor did they show up at our doorstep in days rather than weeks or months.

Cars. Don’t even get me started.

Home entertainment: more countless examples from TV to music.

Fast food restaurants; if you don’t like them, no one is forced to eat there, but they are much more convenient when needed than the universal sit-downs or brown bagging of 60 years ago.

Digital cameras. They may not produce better results than film, but they are far more convenient.

Clothing. Synthetic fabrics and insulation, and even the wool is better.

Guns and ammunition. Autoloading pistols that are totally reliable with modern cartridge loadings. Out of the box factory rifles and ammunition whose precision would have made the experts of generations ago green with envy. Inexpensive chronographs and ballistics solvers. Scopesights whose optical quality, reticles, and reliability were undreamed of even 20 years ago.

Added: One of the best things about today is not having to breathe anyone else’s tobacco smoke—as I did for the first 40+ years of life.

I could go on and on, but I know and remember what the “good old days” were like and anyone who preferred them would be welcome to them.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigfreund,

Beer and whisky are far better now. Cartoons are far worse.

Cars are definitely better.

Having breakfast and then basically leaving the house until you needed to be fed again though trumps most of your post. While smart phones are amazing they also have brought huge societal issues to bear that never existed before so I think those are a net negative. Medicine is better but obesity is way worse so not the massive improvement you think. Dr’s first response now is typically medicate instead of solve.

I’m in the it was better back then even with the shitty carburetors.

Was it better in years past? Maybe. But it was damn sure simpler. The main thing I miss is actual common sense.

It's far better now. I seriously think that if cable news and social media disappeared, we'd think we were in paradise.

Technically all mechanical things are better. Many more creature comforts. As far as fundamental happiness I would say we have taken large strides backwards. All the cool things we have today may distract us but I think I was happier as a poor kid growing up than my kids and grandkids may be.

We live longer, and while not many of us have ever been poor, the overall level of poverty in the US and the world is much lower than it was even 50 years ago. Many fewer people starve every year now.

It is mostly better.

We have a far better variety of foods available now due to globalization than we did 30, 40, 50 years ago.

I recall being enthralled by whole fresh coconuts at this one produce market we used to go to when I was a child in the late 70's - early 80's

Now my little boys see papayas, avocadoes, mangoes, plantains, etc plus 20 different kinds of apples and 15 different kinds of oranges in every supermarket we go to.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
We have a far better variety of foods available ....

That’s another thing I often think about. Some of it actually strikes me as very odd, such as the forty-eleven varieties of breakfast cereals available in my small food store, but more of it I really appreciate. I’m happy to eat grapes from South America in the dead of winter or have curry sauce from Thailand to cook my chicken in.

In response to the complaints about modern life, though, I must point out that just as we’re not forced to eat our supersized meals at McDonald’s, many of the other problems aren’t due to anything other than personal choices that people make. Modern medicine or fast food restaurants aren’t responsible for the so-called obesity “epidemic,” and we can still choose to not spend our lives glued to our smart phones. The temptations are there, but when heroin and cocaine were available OTC at the corner drugstore, not everyone became addicts and not everyone becomes an alcoholic today.

Very many of the problems and differences of life today are due to rapid population growth, but some of the same people who complain about those things consider the right and ability of people to have as many children as the rest of society can support to be sacrosanct. The inevitable consequence of population growth is that as our communities grow larger and larger, the percentage of the population that can walk out their back doors into the wild woods as I could during most of my childhood grows smaller and smaller, and things like traffic congestion become worse.

Yes, life was better back then. It's not even a contest.

It's the people, it's society. Yes, things were much better fifty years ago.

People behaved better, respected each other more and were more compassionate.

Life was better "back then." Living is easier now.

The joy I get out of going somewhere with no cell service and no wifi, the kids want to die but they get over it

it's no better, it's no worse -- just different

and since we don't get to choose, we'll make the best of where we're at

"it's a very exciting time" - Tank

We have better material stuff and technology albeit its taken a few steps back of late with manufacturing shifts to prc.

Goods-wise better. But society and people and culture and manners are much worse now in my perception.

Much better, for one thing we were younger.
Additionally, whether it was jut the times or that being younger as I remember the politics of the day was not that important.
Sure a lot of shit was going on but I guess being involved in life at a young age you just don't care.
Now what technology has improved in life politics and the general moral decay of mankind has maybe not ruined but at least made it much less enjoyable.

We know the things we have now that we didn't have back then so I don't think it's fair to use these things to compare. I wasn't lacking for the internet when I was growing up because it didn't exist. Just yesterday, I watched a video of Johnny Carson sparring with Joe Frazier. It had me laughing so hard. Johnny was hilarious. I commented to the video that it was a reminder of a simpler time, and I think better too.

quote:

Originally posted by Keystoner:
We know the things we have now that we didn't have back then so I don't think it's fair to use these things to compare.
I wasn't lacking for the internet when I was growing up because it didn't exist.

I beg to differ, totally fair to compare.
The FACT that we were perfectly happy without these things shows we did not have to have them to be happy.
Not that much of the things we now have are not beneficial but it just shows it is just relative to the times.
I am thankful that we did not have "social media" back then with all of the good and the bad.
Just one example.

It’s obviously life was happy back then. But with modern stuff, I think one can be happier and/or happy more frequently. Simple simple example. I was happy listening to cassette tapes in the car back then. Much happier now listening to music in the car streamed from my iPhone.

Mom and pop stores. Traditional Barber Shops. No big box stores.